With the announcement in April that State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate would officially withdrawal its plan to close Long Island College Hospital (LICH), many in the community assumed the fight was over. They were wrong.

A fundraiser to help with legal fees associated with the ongoing fight to keep LICH open will be held on Friday, June 14, at 320 Atlantic Avenue at 6 p.m. There is a $50 suggested minimum donation.

At a recent State Senate hearing, lawmakers grilled Downstate officials on the future of the Cobble Hill hospital. State Senator Marty Golden had concerns that SUNY was unwilling to release any information about seven potential buyers.

“The board’s position is that at the present time we have issued an RFI and we have a solid expression of interest,” said H. Carl McCall, chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees. “We’re going to pursue those vigorously and expeditiously, and if in fact an operator can be found who will take over, then LICH will be operated by that entity and SUNY will exit.”

But McCall also discussed what would happen if SUNY did not find a suitable buyer.

“If for some reason that does not take place, we still plan to exit based on all of the discussion we’ve had so far today about the tremendous loss of revenue,” he said, adding that LICH loses about $1 million per week.

Despite what SUNY officials say publicly about the probability of finding a new owner, LICH employees are not optimistic.

Dr. Thoomas Sorro, president of Concerned Physicians of LICH, says he fears that the hospital won’t be open for much longer because SUNY will not release any information on the seven potential buyers.